Is It Sane to go Swimming in January?
by CornflakesAtMidnight
Summary: According to his Mother, Hugo is unsociable. This becomes a problem when Lily Luna appears, intent on dragging him away from his cosy seat by the fire to go for a swim. When you add a floppy green hat and an unusually friendly Slytherin to the equation, even Hugo can get a little confused. Really, he'd just like to go back to his book, if you don't mind.


It was nothing to do with the fact that he was a Ravenclaw and considered pretty smart. Hugo had always known his family was mental. Today, he was even able to back this statement up with evidence: Lily Luna, one of his more exuberant cousins, was standing in front of him, wearing nothing but her swimming togs and a towel.

"A group of us are going for a dip in the Lake, if you fancy joining us," she declared, as if it wasn't the middle of January and bloody freezing outside.

Hugo looked up from where he was sitting in the Ravenclaw common room, the fire three inches away from his face. He screwed up his face in mock consideration.

"Let me think about it for a minute, Lily. Hmm. On the whole, I think I'll just stay inside, where it's warm and dry," Hugo replied, the sarcasm dripping off his words in a way that would scandalize his mother.

"Don't be such a wimp Hugo," Lily moaned. "Come on, you don't have to go into the Lake. Just come out and be social. I promised Aunt Hermione I'd get you speaking to people."

"Oy, I speak to people," Hugo said in indignation.

"You bicker with Marissa Fawley twice a week in Herbology. That doesn't count as being social." Hugo was pretty sure it did, but decided that arguing would get him nowhere. It was time to put his foot down.

"Go away Lily. I'm not moving. You're bloody mental." Hugo waved his hand in dismissal.

And yet, half an hour later, Hugo found himself sitting alone on the ground, his back against the trunk of the oak tree, while his classmates pratted around in the water. He didn't feel any more social there. At least in the common room there had been people within a miles radius of him. Here he just felt as if he had the plague.

On the other hand, did he really want company? He felt rather ridiculous as his green woollen hat, a Christmas present from Rose, fell over his eyes for the ninth time (yes, he was counting. He had nothing better to do). It was far too big for him, but Hugo decided that he would rather now catch pneumonia. No, Hugo thought. The last thing he needed now was company.

Of course, as soon as he decided that, he noticed a figure walking towards him. He sat up straighter, having been trained from an early age to be polite. Then he realised that the mysterious person was wearing a green and silver tie, along with an infuriating smirk.

"Shouldn't you be in the dungeons, plotting the murder of all Bowtruckles everywhere?" Hugo asked, slumping back down again.

Marissa's smile didn't drop, which was very unusual. Hugo looked at her in consternation.

She cast a heating charm on the ground and sat down beside him (it was really a dozen meters away, but it was much closer than could be expected).

"If you had paid attention in Care of Magical Creatures like the good little boy you are, you would know that it's near impossible for us to actually kill Bowtruckles," Marissa replied sweetly, patting him condescendingly on the knee. Hugo jerked his leg away at the sudden contact.

"If I remember correctly, I couldn't hear the Professor over your screaming." Hugo internally congratulated himself on this quick comeback. Who was Lily to say that he didn't speak to people?

Marissa evidently was overwhelmed by his wit, as she decided it was time to change the subject.

"I like your hat Weasley," she said. It sounded sincere, but Hugo knew her well enough to know that she wasn't. She hadn't a sincere bone in her body. Hugo frowned. What did she mean?

It took less than a second for his whirring Ravenclaw brain to come to the only other conclusion: she was laughing at him.

"Did you really just come all the way down here from the Slytherin common room to mock me about my hat?" he exclaimed.

"Don't flatter yourself," Marissa managed to get out between her giggles. Hugo was growing more and more concerned with every passing minute. First a smile, now laughter?

"Or," she was nearly choking now. Hugo wondered briefly if he should run to the Hospital Wing. "Should I say, don't _hatter_ yourself?"

Hugo tried not to laugh. Really, he did. But he was a sucker for bad puns. Also, Marissa's laughter was infectious, and, although he would rather die than admit it, unexpectedly nice. Not at all stuck-up, like he'd imagined.

His face twitched up into a smile, a small blurted giggle escaped; soon they were both laughing their heads off.

The fact that they were enjoying each other's company seemed to occur to them both at the same time. The laughter petered out, and a rather awkward silence descended upon them.

"Um, that was unexpected," Hugo mumbled.

"Yeah, I didn't know you appreciated my wit so much, Weasley," Marissa smiled (it seemed sincere, but, you know the drill).

Hugo huffed, but inside was very relieved that things were back to normal.

"I didn't know you could laugh." Hugo blurted it out without thinking, and it sounded far too sincere. His face began to turn red, and he wondered uncomfortably if his head resembled a Christmas tree.

For once in her life, Lily appeared just when she was needed. She pulled Hugo up from where he was sitting, and dragged him up to the castle. Hugo threw an apologetic look over his shoulder.

Just before they moved out of ear shot, Marissa heard Lily exclaim, "You actually had a fun time?!"

Marissa got up to go too. Deep in thought, she nearly didn't notice a green lump of wool lying forgotten on the ground. She picked it up, feeling the soft material between her fingers. Hesitantly, she put it on her head, rolling it up a bit so that she could see something other than green wool.

She'd have to give it back to Hugo eventually. She knew that. But he was too far away now, and she couldn't be so undignified as to tear up across the grounds, where anyone could see her.

She would eventually give it back to him, she told herself. But in the meantime, it could keep her ears warm.

It would be another couple of months before Hugo realised his hat was missing, and three years before he even got it back, But that, as they so wisely say, is another story.

 **Author's Note: Recently, I've been very interested in Hugo's character, and the inspiration for this one-shot about Hugo and his troublesome hat came to me a while ago.**

 **If you'd like to hear more from Hugo and Marissa, please tell me in a review. I really like the characters and would love to write them some more, although it might be a while before I get around to it because I've exams coming up soon.**

 **Thank you so much for reading this far. I really hope you enjoyed it. Feel free to leave constructive criticism, but please avoid hate as it does nothing for one's poor self esteem.**

 **How do I finish this note? Thanks very much for reading? Please review?**

 **I hope you have a brilliant fan-fic filled day. Bye for now.**


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